To win Test series, other Indian batsmen need to support Kohli: Gilchrist

Adam Gilchrist is expecting Virat Kohli to do an encore of the 2014-15 Test series but for India to win the coveted Border-Gavaskar Trophy, the other batsmen will have to rally around their talismanic skipper.

The first Test starts in Adelaide on December 6 and last time around, Kohli had scored hundreds in both innings in India’s heartbreaking loss.

“Going ahead into the Test series, I expect Virat Kohli will have another imperious outing like he did in 2014 (694 runs in 4 Tests at average 86.50). I have spoken with him these last few days, seen his confidence, and seeing the way he batted in Sydney, I will be very surprised if he doesn’t,” Gilchrist told PTI during an interview.

“The key for India winning this series though will be batsmen around him. Will they support him enough to allow India to get enough runs, and give their good bowling attack enough opportunity to defend or even bowl Australia twice in a Test?” he added.

When asked if there could be a particular ploy from Australia to stop Kohli, Gilchrist replied, “I don’t think I will be able to pinpoint a plan because I don’t know. At best, Australia will have to be patient. They will have to play good old-fashioned Test cricket. Their best hope is to make early inroads in the Indian batting and bowl at Kohli with the new ball.

“Of course, they have to attack all batsmen and not just him, especially when they are new to the crease. But they also need to know when to go defensive and play the patience game against him for long hours.”

Gilchrist conceded that India started favourites but added that it wouldn’t take too much for Australia to be dominant in their own conditions.

“India start as favourites for this Test series mainly because they have a reasonable idea of their team composition. They have a strong understanding what combination they want to play with.

“Maybe 1-2 spots will be up for grabs but otherwise their playing eleven is very much set. I think India have a stable Test team. Whereas if you look at Australia, I don’t think their selectors are quite sure about the line-up or team balance. This is a new phase for Australian cricket.”

Gilchrist said there is not much to choose between the bowling line-up of both sides but it’s the batting line-up that can eliminate collapses will come up trumps.

“Having said that, I think either side can win the series. It won’t take much for Australia to be confident in their own conditions and start dominating the series. We have seen this happen in the past as well.

“Both teams have top-drawer bowling attacks, so it will come down to which batting line-up can eliminate collapses. Kohli talked about India’s tour of England and said that when they were poor, they were really poor, and hence lost. India have only batted reasonably well in patches in both South Africa and England. They are favourites, but they also have to be honest with themselves,” one of the greatest keepers-batsmen of all time said.

Gilchrist also said that the 1-1 draw was an even reflection of the T20I series.

“I think it was a reasonably even T20I series. India were slightly the more dominant team in two matches. They were certainly unlucky in Melbourne because they were controlling that match. So the series could have finished 2-1 in their favour.

“But you never know in cricket and after their recent poor form, I think Australia did particularly well in this series, especially when they defended 170-odd at the Gabba,” Gilchrist said.

India have been beset with batting problems on their two overseas tours this year. In South Africa, they lost 2-1 and then 4-1 in England, albeit the team was overall competitive in both series on the back of Kohli’s form and the Indian pace attack.